Hezbollah drone strikes target Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah launched several drones at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, while Israel issued new displacement orders for south Lebanon and carried out airstrikes, as the fraying ceasefire failed to stop fighting between the two sides.

Hezbollah claimed Tuesday’s attack injured several Israeli soldiers, but no confirmation was given from the Israeli military, apart from a statement saying interceptor missiles had been fired at incoming Hezbollah drones.

An Israeli soldier was killed and six others wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack on Sunday. Hezbollah’s use of small, fibre-optic-guided drones has managed to evade Israeli aerial defences, as the wired element of the aircraft limits the radio signals that radars detect. The drones have a range of up to 9 miles (15km) and the armed group has used them to attack Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon almost daily since the ceasefire was established on 17 April.

Israel also carried out a series of airstrikes on Lebanon on Tuesday, in addition to ordering the residents of 16 villages in south Lebanon to flee northwards. Israeli airstrikes killed 18 people and wounded 88 more in Lebanon over the weekend, according to the Lebanese ministry of health.

At least 2,534 people have been killed and 7,863 wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since the beginning of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel on 2 March. Hezbollah rocket fire has killed two civilians in Israel in the same time period.

The back-and-forth fire came as talks between the US and Iran ground to a halt, with US secretary of state Marco Rubio saying any permanent truce needs to include a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme. The statement came after Tehran offered to reopen the strait of Hormuz – a choke point for a fifth of global oil supply – in return for the US lifting its blockade of the strait. US president Donald Trump said Iran was in a “state of collapse” due to the blockade in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.

As talks with Iran faltered, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said drones and Hezbollah’s rockets continue to pose a threat to northern Israel and promised further strikes against what he said was Hezbollah infrastructure.

“They have about 10% of the missiles they had at the start of the war. But these still trouble the residents of the north … We are carrying out strikes now, both within the security zone and north of it,” Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday night.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu told Trump Israel needed to respond to Hezbollah’s attacks to restrain the armed group. In response the US asked Israel to ensure their response was “calculated and limited”.

The ceasefire in Lebanon was reached after the US requested Israel come to the negotiating table with the Lebanese government, apparently in a bid to ensure negotiations with Iran were not disrupted by the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Since the ceasefire was established, Israel and Lebanon have had two ambassador-level meetings, one of which was held in the Oval Office in Trump’s presence.